Door latch



. April 14, 1925.

` R. i.. MCKINNEY DOOR LATCH Filed June 21, 1924 FIG 4 v U O fA .f K M YPatenteei; Apr. 14, 19255.

1,533,257 PATENT carica.

i ROBERT L. MCKINNEY, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

DOOR LATCH.

. Application led June 21, 1924. Serial No. 721,536.

To all whomc'' may concern.'

Be it known that I, lonnn'r L. liflolnvnnr, a citizen ofthe United States, and resident of Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Door Latches; and do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactvdescription thereof.

My invention relates to door latches of somewhat the usual form, operable from either side of the door, but containing certain improvements.

Vto fit doors of varying thickness when being One. object of my invention is to provide a latch which automatically adjusts itself applied thereto.

Another object of my invention is to provide an arrangement whereby an ordinary lifting latch may be actuated from either side of the door, by the hand of the operator as he grasps one of the pull handles to open the door.

Still another object of my Vinvention is t0 l simplify and improve generally the strucin the Fig. 2.

My latch is shown as applied to a door 5 which may be of any desired thickness.

The usual pull handles 6 and 7 are provided for moving the door, and a latch-bar 8 is pivotally supported on the door at 9 which moves within the usual slotted member 10. A catch 11 is secured to the door-frame 12. The parts thus far enumerated may beof substantially the usual form.

A lifting pin 13 is rigidly secured to the latchB and has a shank portion extending vinto a hole 14 which extends through the door.

A thumb lever 15 is pivotally supported by the handle 7 in a well known manner,

but instead of extending to a point beneath Y the latch 8, is provided with an upturned recessed portion 1G that engages the under Vside of the pin 13.

In the usual form of simple latches a thumb-lever extends from the outer side of the door clear through to the inner side thereof and is pivoted intermediate its ends. The inner end of such levers are downwardly bent in the form of a hook. When opening such doors from the outside, the thumb of the operator is simply pressed against the fiat portion of the thumb-lever. but to unlatch the door from the inside, he places his hand beneath the hook-portion to raise it. and at the same time exerts a pull thereon to swing the door open. This latter feature is objectionable in the case of heavy doors because of the limited grasp which it is possible to secure on the hook portion ot the lifting lever. Furthermore, the old fonn of latch referred to is not readily adaptable to doors of varying thickness.

By my invention both these objections are overcome. The slidable enga-gement between t-he thumb-lever 15 and the inner end of the pin 13 permits these parts to assume relaqtive operative positions regardless of the thickness of the door to which the latch mechanism is applied, as will he apparent from an inspection. -of Fig. 2. The disposition of the handle 6 directly in front of 'the outer end of the pin 13 permits the underside of this pin to be engaged bv the upper side of the first linger of the operator when he is in the act of grasping the handle 6 to pull the door open. As above stated, this latter feature is particularh,1 useful in the case of heavy doors where a great deal of force is required to move them. and avoids the necessity of employing one hand to lift a latch and another hand to grasp a pull-handle to swing the door. L

Various changes in det-ail may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in accompanying claims.

Vhat I claim is:

1. Door latching mechanism comprising a thumb-'lever pivotally supported adiacent to the front of the door and extending rearwardly, a latch pivotally supported at the rear side of the door, and a pin carried bv the latch and extending forwardly ot' the door, the said pin and thumb-lever having telescopic engagement and being of such length that their adjacent ends do not protrude at the sides of the` door.

2. Door latch mechanism comprising a handle at the front side of the door, a lever pivotally supported adjacent to said handle llo to the rear side oi' said door ,ra lifting pin secured to said latch and extending `forwardly therefrom, and mea-ns,comprising a V-Shaped projection on said thumb-lever for aising said pin, the V-shaped projection and the forward end ot the litt-ing pin ter minating` at points intermediate the Sides of the door. i

3. vDoor latching` "mechanism comprising' alatch, a projection cai ifed hy said latch and extending` rearwardly therefrom, and a handle securedt-o the said door 4a-ndxhaving a hand-engaging yportion disposed opposite to the endof Saidrprojection.

41.710001' latching mechanism comprising a latch, a lifting pin carried by and extending forwardly and rearwardly of Said latch, and a lever positioned adjacent to the forward end of said pin and having connection. therewith, the said lever and the rear: end of said pin serving as'lit'ting' devices for said latch. Y' In IJtestimony whereot1 I, the said Roninrr L. MoKrNNEY, have hereunto set my'hand.

ROBERT L. '-MCKINN-E 

